Dear Insanity
by QueenxUndead
Summary: When Crystalin Vaux moved to Death City, her life flipped upside down into a world of chaos and drama. From scary assignments to tangled relationships and family secrets, her life would never again be the same.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Soul Eater and its characters do not belong to me, they are the property of the wonderful Atsushi Ohkubo!**

 **Warning: Story contains mature content and themes, as well as **potentially triggering themes** in later chapters. I'll try to warn you guys at the beginning of the chapter if there's something sensitive or a bit too graphic, so please don't skip these little notes! :p**

* * *

Darkness engulfed the dense forest, shrouding what was beneath the canopy in mystery. The forest was surprisingly humid for its location in the middle of the Nevada desert, and though the sun's rays could not reach the ground, it was hotter than an oven amidst the trees. A menacing chuckle resonated from down a dark path in the forest, immediately weighing down the air with an impending sense of doom.

A sturdily-built boy with auburn hair and blue eyes kicked a rock with the toe of his sneaker and scowled at the ground. Trotting beside him with his head turned to the sky was an individual that was nearly a perfect mirror image of his appearance, despite his lack of a muscular build. The first boy came to a stop in the center of a forest clearing and crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"The entire city is surrounded by a desert, and you decided we would travel the one way where it's impossible to see where we're going?!" he exclaimed, whirling around on his heel to face me.

I shot a heated glare at my redheaded companion and shoved in front of him, deciding to take charge of the situation. "It's swelteringly hot in the desert, Ryoko. We would've died from heat exhaustion before we even reached Death City," I retorted.

The irate ginger rolled his eyes and scoffed "I don't know about you, but I can survive through a little bit of heat. It's hot right now, if you hadn't noticed."

"Are you implying that I'm weak?!" I spat, "I just figured since we have limited water, why should we torture ourselves by–"

"Guys..." my second redheaded companion said shakily.

"We're enrolling in a school where we'll be travelling the world, Crys! If we can't stand a little bit of humidity, how are we going to survive fighting off kishin eggs, huh?" Ryoko argued.

"G-guys!" the smaller of the twins repeated nervously.

"Shut up, Mieko!" Ryoko and I screeched in synchronization.

"Turn the fuck around, you dumbasses!" he howled. Before Ryoko or I could move a muscle, he leapt for us and tackled us both to the ground. We were about to start yelling at him when all of our gazes landed on a terrifyingly gruesome creature looming mere feet before us.

The manner in which the creature moved was clumsy and uncoordinated, as if its body was too large for it to control. It was holding some sort of portable canon in its pincers and its legs resembled more of an insect's than any human's. The creature's eyes were black like an abyss and sunken into its skull. Its cheeks were sallow as if it were deprived of the human souls it so craved. It glared hungrily at the trio, swiping its tongue over its lips as it eyed them like a Thanksgiving dinner.

"I've been searching everywhere for a soul like yours, girl. It's rare to find one so developed at such a young age," the creature snickered.

I was frozen in place, my body completely rigid out of fear. I had only ever faced one kishin egg before in my life, and it was a fairly weak one. Never before had I come face-to-face with something so terrifying at such an unexpected time.

"We should run," Mieko said, grabbing my wrist in urgency.

"No, we have to fight it! We're enrolling in the DWMA, we have to be good for something!" exclaimed Ryoko, "Transform, now!"

Ryoko's body was engulfed by a deep crimson luminescence that illuminated the dark forest surrounding us. Moments after he did so, his twin brother followed suit. On instinct, I latched onto the handles of their weapon forms and gripped the metal so hard my knuckles turned white. Though it was difficult to wield dual club maces, I was an expert, but I didn't think I was ready to fight such a gruesome being.

The creature lunged for me and I dodged the attack by nimbly leaping to the left. I brought down my left mace and landed a blow to the side of the kishin egg's head. It howled in agony, however the pain only angered it more. The cannon in its pincers fired at me, and it's ammunition came so close to hitting me that it burned a hole in the sleeve of my jacket. My eyes widened as I glanced down at the piece of my singed garb. That was close.

"You will pay for this, girl!" the creature screeched.

In the blink of an eye, I was thrown to the forest floor and the wind was knocked out of me. The kishin egg had one of its pincers pinning me to the ground by the throat. My heart was pounding against my ribcage in fright, and my breaths were shallow and ragged with terror. I squeezed my eyes shut to concentrate on quickly planning my next move rather than on the fear that gripped my heart. _Stay calm, don't panic. Just think of what Dad taught you._

"It's over," its sinister voice hissed in my ear.

 _Never accept defeat._

With lightning speed, I dug the long spikes of my mace into the creature's arm and ripped it away violently. The joint was amputated and blood spattered my face. I leapt up from the ground and skidded backwards, distancing myself from the monster. It approached me again at lightning speed, but I smoothly slipped out of its path. I darted forwards and lashed out with one of my weapons, landing a fatal blow with its spikes between the kishin egg's eyes. In agony, it crumpled to the ground and its body dissipated into the air, leaving behind a glowing orb with a pinkish-red luminescence.

Ryoko morphed back into his human form and grinned down at the kishin egg soul. He picked it up with one hand and nearly unhinged his jaw as he swallowed it. I cringed and averted my eyes from my demon weapon partner to the darkness of the forest ahead. I nibbled on my bottom lip nervously. We had only fought two kishin in our lives, so we weren't experienced in the least. What would happen if we ran into another one along that path?

The only reason I knew anything about souls and the way the world worked was because of my father. He once attended the Death Weapon Meister Academy, though he never created a Death Scythe for Lord Death. His weapon partner, my late mother, died before they could collect ninety-nine kishin egg souls and one witch soul. After that, he gave up on being a meister and rejected the life of a DWMA student altogether. He took me, moved out of Death City, and wanted to leave everything in the past behind him. However, as I grew older I became a curious child, and I pulled him right back into his memories of the past.

"Yo, are we going or not, Crys?" Ryoko called. His voice brought me back to reality and I blinked a few times. Ryoko and Mieko were standing a few yards ahead of me, beckoning me to continue onwards down the path that would eventually lead us into Death City.

"Sorry, I'm coming," I responded. I jogged to catch up with them and flashed an excited smile when I eventually did, "So, are you guys ready to become students at the DWMA?"

* * *

"Hello, hello, hello~! Welcome to the one and only Death Weapon Meister Academy, I'm Lord Death! We've been expecting you!"

Lord Death's voice and appearance was definitely more shocking to me than any kishin egg's ugly face. I expected him to be a huge, scary guy in a hooded cloak with a gravelly, frightening voice. Instead, he was a tall man in a spiky cloak with a white skull mask that was anything but scary. Not to mention his voice reminded me of a playful, proud grandfather speaking to his grandchildren rather than one of the strongest beings on Earth.

"Good afternoon, Lord Death," I greeted, bowing deeply. Mieko and Ryoko exchanged glances from either side of me, then followed my lead and bowed respectively. They seemed just as shocked as I was about Lord Death's appearance.

"Your father called about you to notify me of your arrival. I wouldn't want to accidentally send any weapon and meister pairs out to kill you, haha~!" Lord Death said, "What happened with your mother was very tragic, and hopefully her...fate won't be passed down through blood."

My eyes widened and I inwardly shuddered at the thought of losing either one of my weapons. Though I didn't always agree with them, they were like my older brothers. They were always there to protect me and if I ever needed anyone to lean on, they were right there by my side.

"Would you mind telling me your names?" Lord Death questioned.

"Of course, sir. I am Crystalin Vaux, and my demon weapon partners are Ryoko and Mieko Kasai," I replied with a tight-lipped smile.

"Wonderful! Crystalin, you must be a very talented meister. I only know of a select few young students who can dual wield weapons, one of them being my own son," he remarked, "You do understand that you will need to collect one hundred ninety-eight kishin egg souls and two witch souls, correct?"

I nodded sharply with a smile and glanced at my weapon partners on either side of me. I knew the two brothers wanted to become Death Scythes more than anything else – my training saved their lives. I didn't care how much work I had to put into it, I would help them fulfill their dreams.

"May I see your weapon forms, Mieko and Ryoko?" Lord Death inquired. The twins glanced at each other and nodded in perfect synchronization.

The twins' bodies were quickly engulfed in their glowing crimson luminescence, compressing into two club maces. I caught them in my hands and held them out to Lord Death for closer inspection. He moved back a bit in shock and cocked his head, his whole body tilting along with it.

"That was quite a...unique transformation," he commented. The brow on his mask creased and I flinched in surprise, not expecting his mask to come to life. He tapped his chin with his comically large hand and turned his back to my weapons and I.

"You will be placed in Class Crescent Moon in the EAT class, all three of you. You'll start in a week. Get yourself settled and find an apartment in the area. If you can't find anything, we always offer student housing," he said over his shoulder, "Anyway, welcome to Death City!"

* * *

(Third Person POV)

"You were right, Spirit. Her demon weapons' transformations were quite odd."

A man with burgundy hair and sky blue eyes nodded. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his black suit pants and slouched lazily. He remarked, "From what I observed on the outskirts of the city, they were formidable opponents for three untrained students. I'm glad you placed them in the EAT class; however...what was up with their luminescence? It was crimson."

"Her soul was dark as well, and it was extremely powerful for someone of her age. She's not human, I can tell you that," a new voice responded. Lord Death and Spirit turned to see a man with light gray hair and mint green eyes strolling into the Death Room with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth and a bolt through his head.

"Here comes Stein, the notorious freak," muttered Spirit. The newcomer, Stein, fixed him with a deadly glare and the redheaded man fell silent.

"What do you suppose she is, Lord Death?" hummed Stein.

"That soul wavelength was most definitely out of the ordinary. It seems that she takes after her mother in that respect. She seems to mean no harm to the Academy, though she still needs to be placed under supervision. Her abnormal wavelength affected her weapon partners greatly, so much so that their own souls have been tainted, which explains their crimson luminescence. There's no saying what she'll do to any team that she's placed on," Lord Death answered, "She carries a very strong vulnerability to the madness as well. Possibly even stronger than your own, Stein. She needs to have a close eye kept on her."

Stein nodded and said, "I'll take her under my wing, Lord Death. I know the most about madness from personal experience, and, despite their idiocy, my team is quite gifted."

"But what about Maka?! My darling little angel will be put in danger! Her soul could become tainted, she could be possessed or something, right?!" Spirit cut in.

"Shut up, Spirit," growled Stein.

"There is no saying what will happen, Spirit. Your daughter will probably be fine," Lord Death said, "Don't forget, my son is on that team as well. Though his soul is extremely powerful, he's young so it's not impenetrable." He turned away and studied the fabricated blue sky and white clouded background of the Death Room.

"In fact, if she was here to take over anything in this Academy, Kid's soul would be what she would want the most. Attraction to powerful souls is in her nature."

* * *

 **A/N: Hello there! This is my first fanfiction on this site, so I'm kind of nervous for it to be critiqued :\ I apologize if you don't like that the characters are a bit OOC, I know I have a tendency to write them in such ways. Anyways, I probably won't usually put author's notes at the ends of chapters usually, so this is a rarity~**


	2. Chapter 2

(Crystalin's POV – one week later)

"Ryoko, get your ass out of bed! We're leaving soon!" I shouted.

I stood in the bathroom of our apartment, yanking a hairbrush hurriedly through my black hair to get out the tangles. Mieko stood beside me with a hairdryer in hand, blowing out his freshly-washed auburn locks. He finally turned off the noisy device and shook his head sharply, running his fingers through his hair to style it messily.

"You know, you could help me get your stupid brother out of bed," I muttered to him, wincing as my hairbrush got caught on a knot.

He sighed and set the hairdryer down on the counter in front of me. He headed down the hallway and pushed open the mahogany door of his brother's bedroom, poking his head in through the small crack. "Get up, Ryo. Crys and I are almost ready to go," he said.

I heard an annoyed grumble and the creak of a bed frame from Ryoko's bedroom. Mieko shut the door and passed by the bathroom again, giving me a thumbs up and a nod to tell me that his unmotivated twin was awake.

I finished styling my black hair and applied minimal makeup to cover the bags of exhaustion under my stormy gray eyes. I fluffed out my choppy bangs and smiled satisfactorily at myself in the mirror. I exited the bathroom and made my way back to my room to get dressed. I shimmied into a pair of tight black shorts and pulled a burgundy tee shirt over my head. I clipped on my favorite black leather choker that had a silver sun pendant dangling in the center. I hurried into the living room and shrugged on my leather jacket, then plopped onto the couch to yank on my combat boots.

Mieko and Ryoko always tended to wear different variations of the same outfit. Mieko stood by the door wearing a navy blue tee shirt, a varsity jacket, and black jeans with boots. Ryoko strolled from the hallway wearing black jeans and still pulling his dark green shirt over his head. He pulled on his boots and slipped on his varsity jacket that matched Mieko's. It was a custom-made black jacket with white leather sleeves and white stitching. Stitched on the back in white was their surname in Japanese kanji and a white sun that matched the one that dangled from my choker.

Ryoko carelessly ran his fingers through his messy red hair and headed for the door. He grabbed the doorknob, roughly yanked open the door, and muttered sleepily, "I'm ready. Let's get going."

* * *

I stared blankly at the map in my hands, then up at the giant building in front of me, then back down at the map. I pursed my lips and jutted out my hip, scratching my head in deep thought. Ryoko's eyes wandered around the campus in search of a pretty girl while Mieko's eyes were glued to me.

"Do you even know what you're looking at?" he asked patiently.

I glanced up at him with a sigh and reluctantly admitted, "Not a clue. This school is huge." I shoved the piece of inked paper into his hands and crossed my arms. I brought my eyes to the sky, admiring its pure cerulean clarity. The sun chuckled above us, almost as if it were mocking our predicament.

"Do you guys need some help? You look a little lost."

I practically jumped out of my skin at the sound of the feminine voice that startled me out of my daydream. I brought my gaze back down to Earth and it met with two grass green eyes matched with sandy blonde hair in pigtails. Behind the girl stood a slouchy boy with shock white hair, a shark-toothed smirk, and crimson eyes that were glued to me. The girl smiled brightly and stuck out her hand for me to shake. I took her hand and returned her smile politely.

"I'm Maka, a meister here at the Academy, and this idiot here is my weapon partner, Soul," she introduced, gesturing to the white-haired boy behind her, "You're new here, I guess?"

"Yeah, we just enrolled. I'm Crystalin, and these are my partners, Mieko and Ryoko," I replied, nodding to each boy respectively.

"You wield two weapons? That's awesome!" Maka commented with a smile. A subtle raise of her eyebrows and a glimmer in her eyes told me she was fairly impressed.

"Are they twins or somethin'?" asked Maka's partner, Soul. His sleepy crimson eyes darted from one to the other, almost as if he was trying to find a single trait about them that was different.

"Yep, I'm the older one," Mieko replied proudly.

"By four minutes, punk," retorted Ryoko.

"Cool," Soul remarked with a curt nod. His gaze flitted back to me for a moment, but when he caught my eyes on him, he glanced away.

 _ **DING-DONG, DEAD-DONG.**_ The creepy tone reverberated from the Academy, sending chills down my spine.

Maka's gaze flickered up to the building at the sound, and if she were an animal, her ears would've perked up. "Oh, that's the bell that means class is starting! Which class are you guys in?" she asked.

"Uh...Class Crescent Moon," Mieko responded, glancing down for a moment at the schedule in his hands to confirm. Maka's green eyes brightened t his reply and she exclaimed, "That's our class too! Come on, walk with us."

* * *

Class was just as boring as I had expected it to be. I sat with my head resting on my arm for the entire period while Ryoko carved designs into the desk on one side of me and Mieko studiously took notes on the other side. The instructor, Professor Stein, was speaking from the distant front of the classroom about animal dissections. He looked rather deranged in my opinion. He had gray hair, green eyes, and a bolt through his head. Was he a robot or something?

I was more than glad when lunchtime came around. After wandering around the building for a bit, we finally decided we would go out for lunch and come back at the scheduled time for our next class. We walked for a few blocks before we found a small cafe. I ordered a bagel and sat down with Ryoko and Mieko at a table outside, enclosed by a low picket fence.

"Do you like the DWMA so far?" I asked, taking a huge bite out of my bagel. Mieko raised an eyebrow at the indent in my bagel, then rolled his eyes and smiled.

"If there was a gym that'd be awesome, but all they have are training clearings," Ryoko complained, "They want us to stay in shape, meanwhile they don't even have a gym on the premises. What kind of nonsensical bullshit is that?"

"Ever hear of getting your own equipment?" I mumbled through my mouthful of food. He ignored my question and went back to eating the grilled chicken hero on his plate.

"I like the Academy. Maka told me their library is huge," Mieko said with sparkling eyes, "I can't wait to get my hands on some of those books. I can't even imagine what kind of a selection they must have."

"Nerd," coughed Ryoko. His twin shot him an icy glare and he simply responded with a devious grin.

I took another bite of my bagel and lost myself in my own thoughts as my two weapon partners lovingly bickered. I felt like that instructor, Professor Stein, was watching my every move all throughout class. Even as I walked the halls, I felt like I was being watched. Then again, the school was undeniably wealthy, which meant they probably had security cameras in every nook and cranny.

"Hey guys!" a cheerful voice greeted, "We were just passing by and Soul saw you, so we decided to drop by and say hello." I shook my head sharply, bringing myself back to reality, and saw Maka standing beside our table with Soul and two others in her company.

"Hey," I greeted with a smile and a slight wave. My eyes met with Soul's and he flashed me a crooked grin. His demeanor radiated the charm of a bad boy and I couldn't deny the fact that he piqued my interest. However, I couldn't have myself getting distracted so early on in my academic career.

"YOU'RE THE NEW KIDS, HUH? TIME TO MEET THE ONE WHO WILL SURPASS GOD, THE GREAT BLACK STAR! HAHAHA!" an obnoxious voice boomed. I winced and covered my ears, sinking down slightly in my chair. A relatively short boy with bulging muscles and spiky neon blue hair stood up on the empty chair next to Ryoko.

"B-Black Star, get down from there!" a dainty feminine voice chimed. A tall, slender girl with long, black hair that was gathered into a ponytail and deep violet eyes smiled nervously and politely bowed to us, "I'm so sorry about him."

"Uh, this is Black Star and his weapon partner Tsubaki," Maka said. Her eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance when they came to rest upon the narcissistic blue-haired boy.

"Nice to meet you," Ryoko said with a charming smile. His lustful blue eyes were glued to Tsubaki, focusing solely her chest. I reached across the table and smacked him in the back of the head. He ducked and glowered at me, rubbing the spot where I hit him in pain.

"Did Professor Stein tell you guys about training later?" Soul asked. He pulled up a chair from one of the nearby tables and sat down near me. Ryoko offered the seat next to him to Tsubaki, who politely took it, while Maka and Black Star leaned against the fence behind the table.

"No, what kind of training is it?" I asked curiously.

"Just basic training with soul resonance and stuff like that, but we break off into our teams and work in separate areas of the clearing," Maka informed.

"We don't have a team," Mieko remarked. Over by the fence, Maka slowly inched away from Black Star with a look of displeasure on her face. Her dislike for him was comical, but seemingly understandable.

"Did Stein not tell you that either?" Soul snorted, "That guy's got a few screws loose. Not cool."

"You're on our team. It's comprised of us and one other meister and his demon weapons," Tsubaki spoke up.

The fact that the word weapons was plural piqued my interest greatly. I cocked an eyebrow in curiosity. "Weapons? Does he have more than one, like me?" I asked.

"Yep – twin pistols," Maka replied.

"You have duel weapons? You don't even look powerful, especially compared to a star like me!" Black Star gloated, his tone of voice still quite booming.

"Did you think one of us was for show or something?" Mieko shot back, jabbing his thumb in Ryoko's direction. Black Star fell silent, fixing my more intellectual weapon with a fiery glare.

"So, where is this other dual wielding meister?" I asked curiously.

"He's on a mission as of now, but he should be back in a few days," Maka answered.

The seven of us sat around the table, chatting and getting to know each other a little better. Mieko and Maka seemed to click immediately due to their love of books, and I conversed with Soul for a majority of the time. Ryoko attempted to hit on Tsubaki, but from what I could tell, his attempts were miserable failures. The girl was too sweet to reject him outwardly, but it didn't seem like she had any interest in him. Her eyes kept flickering distractedly over to her meister during their conversation.

 _ **DING-DONG. DEAD-DONG.**_

"I guess that means it's time to get back to class," Mieko said. He chucked what was left of his sandwich into the trashcan and started heading out of the fence. I stood up from the table and threw my paper plate in the trash as well, then followed quickly after him.


	3. Chapter 3

"This is the place," Mieko murmured.

"Yep. The residence of Genevieve Bellevue, a woman who is said to be from Victorian-era England and consumes the souls of innocent young girls to maintain her beauty and immortality," I added, "People have been calling her the Vampire of London for decades, and rumor has it, she loves the attention. Though, in fear of being caught by the so-called 'vampire hunters' that try to track her down, she almost never leaves her estate."

Mieko, Ryoko, and I stood outside of the giant estate that lie just outside of London, our heads tilted back as we studied its enormity from afar. Though the mansion was old, it was extravagant on the outside. Tall, slightly rusted wrought iron gates encased a huge garden with a mossy fountain in the center. Wide, granite stairs led up to the rustic wooden front doors. The garden just below the staircase was overgrown, as were the trees surrounding the isolated house, impairing the view of the city that it seemed to reign over. The windows of the mansion were dirty and some were even broken in certain areas.

"This place is huge," Mieko murmured, "Why would they send us alone to a place like this on our first mission? It's bound to be dangerous since we're newbies."

"I don't know...maybe it's a test. We could get lost if we're not careful," I replied, "Stick by my side. Don't run off thinking you can find the kishin and fight it without me."

He and his brother nodded solemnly and I gestured with a motion of my head for them to follow me. I cautiously crept up the stairs that led to the front door with my demon weapons only a few steps behind. I reached out to push open the door and drew back, expecting the kishin to come flying out of the building. The only noise to be heard was the creaking of the decrepit door as it swung open, leading us into the foyer.

"It's even bigger on the inside," commented Ryoko.

I shot a glare back at him, mentally reprimanding him for opening his mouth. Two spiraling staircases on either side of the room led up to a platform with a painting on the wall and a broken chandelier hanging from above. The stairs were constructed of white marble, stained with age and layered in dust. Various hallways branched off the foyer on the lower level, and the platform at the top of the stairs led up to yet another set of spiraling stairs. The mansion was like an expansive maze, and regrettably, I knew it would take time to cover every inch of the area.

"Guys, transform. I need to be ready if something attacks," I whispered, "And besides, one set of footsteps is quieter than three." Immediately, Ryoko and Mieko transformed into dual club maces and I gripped onto their handles tightly.

I cautiously set my foot onto the staircase, my gaze darting warily around. As I trekked up the eerie stairs, my heartbeat seemed to quicken with every step. I nervously bit my bottom lip so hard that the metallic taste of blood bathed my tongue. I set foot on the first platform and glanced up at the large painting hanging on the wall, studying the old, dusty relic with interest.

In the golden frame was a portrait of a woman with her arms resting just below her bust. Her hair was gathered atop her head in a formal bun, her skin was flawlessly pale, and she was dressed in royal Victorian garb. As beautiful as the woman was, her eyes were unsettling. They were overdone with painted makeup, obviously made to be the central point in the portrait. Her irises were so dark they seemed almost like black holes one could get lost in and her pupils were virtually invisible.

"Keep moving, Crys. It'll take hours to get through here if you go on a scenic tour like you're in a museum or something _,_ " Ryoko muttered.

I grumbled at my weapon partner, but I knew he was right. I wrenched my eyes away from the old portrait on the wall and started up the second flight of stairs, which led to the second floor. The second floor was much darker than the first, with no more open front door or windows left ajar to provide light. Blood red curtains with golden ties blocked out the sun from the hallway. I took a deep breath to try and steady my nerves, but instead my nostrils were met with the sickening smell of death. I gagged and leaned against the wall, covering my mouth and nose to try and stop myself from retching.

The door beside me flung open and light from inside the room flooded out into the hallway. My breath hitched in my throat and I sank to the floor in hopes that whoever or whatever was standing behind that door wouldn't sense my presence. I squeezed my eyes shut and stopped breathing entirely, hoping I would hear the door creaking shut and see the hallway once again plunged into darkness.

When I cracked open my eyes, two bottomless onyx orbs bore into my own. I gasped and tried to back up, but my head collided with the wall. I felt talon-like fingernails and a cold hand grip my face, causing my breaths to become shallow and unsteady. The voice from the woman's lips was dripping with poisonous honey and a British lilt.

"Don't fret, my dear. You're with Genevieve now."

* * *

"Your soul looks quite tasty, princess," Genevieve hissed, running her clawed fingers down my cheek.

I caught her wrist in my hand and the woman stiffened, locking eyes with me. "You're not getting your hands anywhere near my soul," I snarled.

"What are you going to do to stop me, you insignificant child?! I am immortal!" she screeched.

She backed away from me at lightning speed and retreated into the room she had emerged from. I got up from the floor and followed her through the open doors, readying my dual weapons at my side. The room she had entered was a bedroom with an antique wooden bed in the center of the room. Rustic furniture decorated the space, all made of dark wood and covered in a layer of dust. Genevieve stood in the far corner of the room, fussing with the latch on a small box. Her head snapped up when she heard my footsteps approaching, and when her eyes met mine, her actions became more frantic.

"Why do you kill humans, Genevieve?" I asked. I approached her slowly, dragging my maces on the ground noisily, just to remind her that they were at the ready. I came to a stop and studied her curiously, "I heard that it keeps you young and pretty. Without consuming human souls, you would be old and shriveled up in the ground right now, am I right?"

Genevieve spun around quickly, a bladed fan now in her clutches. She leapt for me with a wild look in her eyes, screeching as she lunged for my throat with her weapon. I easily dodged her attack and swung one of my maces in her direction, which missed her arm by only a few centimeters. "You wouldn't understand what it feels like to be old and fear death! What do you know, you insolent child?!" she screamed.

She recklessly threw herself towards me again, lashing out with her bladed fans once more. She pushed down on my shoulder, sending both her and I crashing to the ground. I hurriedly got to my feet and darted away from the woman. I brought my hand to my face, cursing when I took it away to find it covered in blood. She cut my cheek, but only minimally. I ran for her, swinging both my maces around and smashing them violently into both sides of her head. She screeched and crumpled to the floor in agony, holding her bloodied temples with bulging eyes.

After five long minutes of her lying motionless on the floor, she rose from the ground, launched herself at me, and pulled me down with her. She held her bladed fan to my throat, snarling unintelligible threats in my ear. Her beautiful face was no more; it was now replaced by the countenance of a decrepit old demon with sagging gray skin, sallow cheeks, and white hair. Her eerie obsidian eyes remained the same.

"I will end you," she rasped.

I kicked her off of me and pinned her to the ground. I stood up from the floor and stepped on her stomach, grinning as her lightless eyes screamed for mercy. I twirled my maces around and, with slight movement and a flick of the wrist, slammed them into her head. The spikes of one of the maces dug into her eye socket and I watched with satisfaction as her blood bubbled up and seeped out onto the wooden floor. Within moments, her body was whipped up into black ribbons, leaving behind only her glowing pinkish-red kishin egg soul.

"I guess you're not so immortal after all, bitch."

* * *

I trudged in through the large wooden door of Class Crescent Moon, trailing tiredly behind Mieko and Ryoko. We had returned from our assignment very early in the morning, which resulted in none of us getting any sleep before class. I flopped down into a seat towards the middle of the classroom beside my partners and leaned my head on the desk with my eyelids lowered. Mieko whipped out a thick, hardcover book from his bag and began reading intently. I could never understand how he could find the time and interest to read books so large they were practically textbooks. I closed my eyes and prepared to take a nap before Professor Stein arrived when a voice interrupted my peace and quiet.

"Rough first assignment, huh?"

I cracked open one eye and saw Soul sitting beside me, one arm casually propped up on the desk supporting his chin. Maka sat on the opposite side of him with a book open on the desk, like Mieko. I shrugged and sat up, stretching my limbs to hopefully shake off my exhaustion.

"We defeated the kishin. The assignment was in London though, so the trip back was brutal. We didn't get any sleep last night," I replied.

"That sucks," he remarked, clicking his tongue, "Do you want to sneak off to Deathbucks with me to pick up some coffee before Professor Stein gets here? No one will care if we skip."

I glanced over at Mieko intently reading and Ryoko peacefully napping, and decided that they would be fine without me. I agreed to go get coffee with Soul and, after assuring Mieko I would be back soon, slipped out of the classroom. The sun was shining brightly overhead and the air was pleasantly warm. When we reached Deathbucks, it was completely vacant aside from the workers. I ordered a coffee and sat down at a table by the window that looked out on the street.

"My assignment only lasted a couple of days and it was all the way in London. Where's our other teammate? It's been almost two weeks, shouldn't he be back by now?" I asked.

Soul shrugged and stirred sugar into his coffee. His crimson eyes flickered out onto the street, studying the people that passed the shop. "He probably took on some super hard assignment and hasn't finished yet; Kid's a bit of an overachiever. He's Lord Death's son, after all," he hummed.

"Whoa, really?" I replied, my eyes widening, "He must be a shinigami too then...he's probably really powerful. That's so cool."

"Eh. He's a bit of a prestigious snob," Soul snorted.

A thick silence settled between us, and I could feel his gaze upon me. I glanced over at him and we locked eyes for a few seconds until I looked away. I stared down into my coffee cup, concentrating on the swirling of the foam at the surface instead of on the boy sitting next to me. The sparks of tension between us were so electrifying they were practically visible. We had only just met, but I knew he was attracted to me – and I couldn't deny I was to him as well.

"You should come over sometime. We could all get to know each other a little better," he suggested. I nodded and smirked as I noticed his eyes ravishing my figure. It was nice to be getting attention from someone other than my weapons. He flashed me a grin, showing off his sharp pearly whites that I wanted to feel grazing across my skin. As I imagined the sensation, I shivered and shook my head sharply.

 _What am I thinking? I need to pull myself together! I can't have him distracting me from my training._


	4. Chapter 4

I dragged Ryoko into our apartment by his ear and slammed the door shut behind us. I shoved him away from me and he stumbled drunkenly before catching himself on the coffee table. He sat down on the couch unsteadily and I shook my head in disappointment.

"Why is it that no matter where we live, whenever Mieko isn't around to control you, I always find you doing something that could jeopardize your safety?!" I shouted. I threw his bottle of liquor at him and it shattered on the wooden floor of the living room.

"You don't have to monitor everything I do, Crys! I'm allowed to have some fun!" he argued.

I let out a frustrated growl and kicked the coffee table, sending its contents crashing to the ground. "I'm just trying to watch out for you, Ryoko! You're a fucking idiot. First, back home, you started taking fucking steroids to get pumped out. Now, you're staying out getting wasted at night on the street with complete strangers. You're a student of the DWMA now, kishin target you even more so than before; you could be attacked if you're alone!" I yelled.

"Let me do what I want, you act like you're my mom! You're just my meister!" he snapped back.

"I'm just your meister? That means a hell of a lot if you ever want to become a Death Scythe for Lord Death!" I retorted.

"I could give a shit less about whatever the fuck you fight to make us stronger. I'm in this for Mieko!" he shot back.

I halted my argumentative response, my jaw slackening ever-so-slightly. I closed my mouth and put my palms up in surrender. I started backing away from him, shaking my head with a bitter smile. "You know what? Do whatever you fucking want then. I only say this stuff because I care about you," I said, "Remember when you and Mieko helped me years ago? I'm just trying to return the favor because you mean so much to me. Clearly I don't mean as much to you."

I saw guilt wash over my arrogant, drunken weapon partner's features for a moment. I spun on my heel and walked towards the front door. I snatched up my leather jacket from the armchair and shrugged it on, zipping it up over my shirt. I violently yanked on my combat boots and laced them up in a careless hurry.

"Crys, I–"

"Shut up. Just shut your mouth. You've made yourself clear enough," I snarled. I yanked open the front door and slammed it shut behind me, the booming sound reverberating through the empty corridor of our apartment building.

Ryoko and I always clashed when Mieko wasn't around. I had a tendency to care too much about him and he was a shallow, unfeeling person. We were two opposite ends of the spectrum, and really the only reason we got along was because of Mieko. If it weren't for him, we probably would have desynchronized a long time ago.

Since we first started the DWMA, Mieko had already made one friend, which was Maka. They were both bookworms, therefore they bonded rather quickly. Ryoko and I were alone in the apartment because Mieko had gone to the DWMA library for the first time with Maka. To say he was excited was an understatement. He had a passionate relationship with books that I could never fully comprehend.

I shoved open the door of the apartment building and stepped outside into the chilly nighttime air. I rubbed my hands together and clenched them tightly to generate heat for myself. My breath billowed out in a cloud in front of me then disappeared into the night. For a place that was so hot during the day, it was surprisingly chilly after the sun set.

The moon was sleeping overhead in the midnight sky that lacked twinkling stars. Luckily the streetlamps lining the sidewalks were illuminating the streets, otherwise I would have been walking in complete darkness. I stared down at the rocky cobblestone road under my boots, studying the intricate details of the stones that were worn with age.

I hated when Ryoko and I fought. It happened quite frequently, normally about things that were stupid and trivial. Our personalities conflicted and clashed, which was why I often found myself in shouting matches and heated arguments with him. When it came down to it, I knew somewhere in my heart that he didn't mean the things he said half the time and that he cared about me in some way that he just couldn't express, but his uncaring words still stung.

I spotted something from out of the corner of my eye, like a shadow moving in the alleyway across from where I stood. I whipped my head in the direction of the movement, warily inspecting my surroundings. I was wandering the streets, weaponless, in the middle of the night – not my smartest idea. I had just reprimanded Ryoko for doing the exact same thing, though his perception was impaired by alcohol. Even so, if anything attacked me I would be utterly defenseless.

I continued walking down the street, picking up my pace slightly because of my paranoia. I didn't exactly know what my destination was until I saw the steps of the DWMA. It was really the only place in the city that I was familiar enough with to know it was open in the middle of the night. I figured if I found Mieko maybe he could calm me down a bit.

A sound of scraping metal sounded from behind me, but before I could turn around, something metal pressed into my throat. My breath hitched as a low, rumbling cackle pierced the air from behind me. I kicked my foot back, nailing whatever was behind me where it counts, and twisted my way out of its grip. I spun around quickly and found myself face-to-face with an ugly, deformed kishin. From the left side of its head protruded a spike, and under its right eye was a black spade tattooed onto its skin. Its soulless eyes bore into my own and its tongue lolled out of its mouth at the sight of my soul.

"Don't bother putting up a fight, you're mine," the kishin hissed. It ran at me and I dodged its attack nimbly, causing the creature to slam its head into the stone stairs of the DWMA. The creature was brave for coming so close to the Academy. I couldn't help but wonder why it would do such a thing just to chase after me. There were plenty of other defenseless humans around Death City to attack.

I was knocked off my feet and thrown back by a strong force. I found myself pinned to the hard concrete, a few yards away from the steps of the DWMA. The kishin's cold, metallic hand was pressed to my throat and restricting my movement. It leaned down to me, baring its sharpened fangs in a sinister grin.

"You're going to die anyway, why not end it early and let me do the honors?" it snickered evilly. I stiffened in its grasp and squeezed my eyes shut. What could I possibly do? My weapons were way too far for them to ever hear me if I called.

My gaze flickered up to the steps of the DWMA. I was just outside a building that teemed with students of Lord Death in the daytime who fought these monsters, just like I did. Someone was bound to be walking out. It was worth a shot. I parted my lips and let out an ear-piercing scream that ripped through the air like a knife. The kishin visibly winced and brought its face closer to mine, pressing its hand into my throat harder.

"Shut your mouth, girl," it snarled. It dragged a metal claw along the side of my face and I felt blood drip down my cheek. "I always enjoy seeing your kind suffer before I take your tainted soul and make it my own, but you seem to be quite the little pest. I'll end you quickly."

Just as it raised its claw to pierce through my heart, it was shot through the chest. It crawled from on top of me, turning its attention towards its new attacker. It tilted its head to the sky and let out a frustrated yowl. It launched itself towards its assailant, but before it could reach the source, it was bathed in a shower of round, purple orbs accompanied by the sound of a shooting gun.

"Die, you asymmetrical disgrace."

The creature disintegrated before my eyes as its body was whisked away into black ribbons, leaving behind nothing but a glowing kishin egg soul. A whirring sound descended behind me, then disappeared suddenly. A person in black dress shoes stood over the soul and it was sucked from the ground into a small, silver container gripped in their pale hand.

Two hands that matched the one previously gripping the silver container reached down to me. At closer inspection, I noticed three silver bands around the person's slender middle fingers on both hands. I cautiously took the person's hands and they effortlessly pulled me to my feet. My savior was dressed quite properly; he wore a black suit with four white stripes down the center, three on each shoulder, and a silver skull positioned at the collar.

"Are you alright?" he asked. My eyes immediately shot up and locked with his. My heart skipped a beat. His eyes were ringed and golden with an almost hypnotic quality about them. Though his eyes were entrancing and his words were caring, his expression was quite blank.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you very much for saving me," I responded, bowing my head gratefully. My eyes roamed the rest of his face, from his pale skin to his black hair that had three shockingly white stripes on the left side of his bangs. That was surely a questionable statement of fashion.

"Why are you wandering by the DWMA at night?" he asked. His eyes narrowed suspiciously and his gaze seemed to penetrate through to my very soul. He had soul perception, I assumed. I would never get used to that distant, scrutinizing stare in a meister's eyes when they looked at me for the first time.

"I was just going to visit the library...I'm a meister here," I replied.

He raised his perfect eyebrows, almost as if he didn't believe me. "A meister? Where is your weapon, then?" he queried.

"One of them is in the library, where I was going, and I'm having a bit of a fight with the other one, so he's nowhere to be found," I answered, avoiding eye contact with him. His brows furrowed and he parted his lips to say something, but sealed them again before any words could escape. His eyes focused on my soul again and he bit his lip in thought.

"Who are you, may I ask?" he inquired.

"Crystalin Vaux," I responded hesitantly, "Why?"

His eyes widened at my answer and he took a step away from me. I tilted my head in confusion and looked over my shoulder to see if something was behind me. He dipped his head in a respectful greeting.

"I apologize, it was very rude of me to ask for your name and not give mine. I'm Death the Kid, Lord Death's son," he said, "You're the new girl on my team, correct? The one with the dual weapons?"

It was my turn to be shocked. "Yeah, that's me. Are you the other meister on my team with two weapons?" I asked.

He took out two silver and black pistols from their holsters and expertly twirled them around on his pinkies with a nod. The guns were engulfed in a purple glow that made him flinch and pull back his hands. Once the light disappeared, two girls stood on either side of him – a tall one with long, dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, and a shorter one with shoulder-length, platinum blonde hair and blue eyes.

"What's the point of putting us in a holster when we can just transform back?!" the dirty blonde girl complained.

"Yeah, it makes me feel all scrunchy!" added the shorter girl in a childish voice.

"These are my weapon partners, Liz and Patty," Death the Kid said, first gesturing to the taller girl, then to the shorter one, "It's a shame I couldn't meet your weapons."

"You can meet them tomorrow. They'll be in class with me," I said with a friendly smile, "Hopefully both of them will be."

"Alright," he remarked, "Well, I'd better be getting home, it's late and we just got back from an assignment. Stay safe getting to the library."

"Thanks again for saving me, De–"

He interrupted my sentence and cut in, "You can just call me Kid." Before he turned around, he broke his stoic demeanor and flashed me a charming smile that made my heart leap. He left me at the bottom of the steps at the DWMA with my heart pounding in my chest at an irregularly rapid pace.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Warning you guys now, this chapter contains use of alcohol and highly sexual scenes xx**

* * *

I kicked at a small rock with the toe of my boot as I walked down the cobblestone road. I was wandering a few blocks away from the Academy, keeping to the more lighted streets. I decided I didn't want to go into the library, but at the same time I didn't want to go home to Ryoko. His words still resonated in my mind and squeezed my heart with sadness. _Do I really not mean anything to him?_ I nibbled on my bottom lip and picked at the dirt underneath my nails from my previous skirmish.

"Crystalin?"

I was roused back to reality at the sound of my name. I glanced up from the cobblestone floor and spotted Soul standing on the sidewalk wearing a white tee shirt and blue jeans. His hair was lacking his usual headband and flopping into his eyes as soon as he brushed it away. He had a basketball under his arm as if he had just been playing and a liquor bottle in his left hand.

"What's up? You're out late," he commented.

I shrugged and glanced down the street to make sure nothing was there. "I got into an argument with Ryoko. I'm kinda bummed out," I sighed.

"Hm. That's not cool," he murmured, "Want any? It'll help you get your mind off of whatever you guys fought about." He held out the glass bottle to me and I stared at it hesitantly. After a few moments of uncertainty, I grabbed it and took a swig of the potent alcohol, immediately feeling guilt wash over me. I was such a hypocrite. I had just screamed at Ryoko for getting drunk on the street at night, then an hour later I was out doing the exact same thing.

"I met the missing link to our team a few minutes ago," I remarked, handing him his bottle back after taking another drink, "He kind of saved me from a kishin attack when Mieko and Ryoko weren't with me."

"At least he was there," he said, "Kid's a bit uptight, if you didn't pick up on that right off the bat. He's hard to get along with."

"He seemed...unique," I mumbled.

"Yeah, I guess you could call him that if you wanna be nice," Soul replied with a roll of his eyes and a shrug, "Anyway, wanna come into my place? Maka's out with Mieko, but you probably already knew that." He gestured towards the apartment complex right behind where we stood.

I glanced up at the colorful building that towered above us. I was hesitant to agree, but eventually I gave in and nodded, accepting his offer. He bared his sharp teeth in a grin and ushered me inside, shutting the door behind us and blocking out the chilly night air and all of my problems along with it.

* * *

A few drinks later and I was wasted in Soul and Maka's living room. The world felt like it was spinning and it was difficult for me to even keep my head propped up. I hiccupped and fell back into the soft cushions of their sofa. Soul sat beside me, his own crimson eyes glossy as he held his head in his hands and watched me intently.

"I...I've been fuckin' dealing with those two since I was ten," I mumbled, thrusting out my hand with my words and nearly flinging the glass bottle in my grip across the room. I was never a nasty drunk, I was more of an honest drunk. I was going on a rant about Ryoko, spilling all my problems on Soul, who dazedly listened.

"It's okay, you guys'll get p...past it," Soul consoled, patting me on the thigh.

"I-I...try to get along with him, but he's always sayin' something to get to me," I complained, "Ever since we're kids, he's just so full of himself and all he thinks about is his own damn self."

Soul listened to me with a distant look in his eerie eyes. As I ranted on, he stayed silent and let me talk, meanwhile he was studying my every move. I took another drink from the bottle lying on the table and threw my head back to stare up at the ceiling.

"Crys'lin, look at me," he slurred. I settled my gaze back onto him and our eyes locked. He was about to say something, but he stopped himself. He inched closer to me on the sofa, closing the gap between us so our thighs brushed. His gaze flickered from my eyes to my lips, and before I knew what was happening, it happened.

He kissed me, hot and full of unabashed lust.

Albeit his sloppy approach, through his movements I could almost feel the desire coursing through his veins. It was definitely something I didn't expect, but I couldn't find it in me to pull away. After days of restraining myself from acting upon my attraction, I was finally able to let loose. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me, tangling my fingers in his messy hair.

Everything about our encounter was filled with drunken lust and inconceivable sexual attraction. Soul's hands roamed my body, gliding smoothly down my waist and coming to rest upon my hips with a rough squeeze. He threw me down onto the couch and pinned me in place, his body hovering over my own. Without my conscious consent, I found my fingertips pulling at the hem of his shirt and tugging it up over his head. He pressed his lips to mine and our tongues danced in a heated battle for dominance.

He leaned back on the couch and pulled me onto his lap. I wrapped my legs around his waist and moaned lowly as his hands roughly groped my ass. He chuckled against my lips and pulled away for a moment. In a husky, slurred tone he purred, "Why don't we take this into my room?"

He hoisted me up and carried me into his bedroom down the hallway. He kicked the blue door shut behind him and tossed me onto the bed, pouncing on top of me like a lustfully crazed tiger. He pressed his body against mine and I pulled him back down for another steamy French kiss. I felt his sharp teeth graze over my bottom lip, and in response, I pulled his bottom lip into my mouth. He purred, the sound rumbling through his chest and vibrating against my body.

Soul's hands yanked up the hem of my burgundy shirt, tossing it across the room and attacking my bra next. Everywhere on my body where his skin touched mine felt like it was being licked by flames of passion. His kisses travelled from my lips, along my jaw line, and down my neck. I shivered with delight as his razor sharp teeth grazed over the sensitive skin of my throat, creating a tingling sensation that sent chills up my spine.

His fingers lightly traced patterns on my skin that made me run my nails down his back in pure pleasure. "You ready?" he purred against my lips.

The sole response that escaped my lips was a moan.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up in a strange bed wearing nothing but a sheet over my naked body. I glanced beside me and saw Soul passed out, his face buried into a pillow and his bare back visible above the covers. _Shit...did that really happen last night?_

He stirred and turned over, his crimson eyes squinting through the sunlight that shone into his room from the open window. His eyes widened and he bolted upright in bed, almost pulling his covers off. He looked over at me, but I quickly averted my eyes from his gaze.

I glanced over at the small alarm clock on his nightstand. "Class starts soon, we have to get dressed," I muttered.

"I'll turn away, you, uh...gather your stuff. Take a shower, if you want. Maka should be gone by now," he mumbled.

I denied his offer for a shower and quickly collected my clothes that were messily strewn around the room. I slipped on my panties and shorts in a hurry and pulled my burgundy shirt over my head. I stepped into the bathroom to splash some water on my face and rinse out my mouth. When I glanced in the mirror, my hair looked like a lion's mane, so I tied it up into a messy bun to make myself look at least slightly presentable. When I exited the bathroom, Soul was in the living room putting on his shoes. I laced up my combat boots and shrugged on my leather jacket, zipping it up a little lower than usual.

"Take a piece of gum and use some of Maka's perfume. You probably reek like alcohol and sex," Soul muttered. He threw me a pack of gum and a plastic bottle of perfume and I gratefully used them. I set them down on the coffee table when I was finished.

The trip to the Academy was silent and awkward. Neither of us said a word to each other or even dared to look each other in the eye. Both of us knew that was bound to happen eventually, we just didn't know when it would. When we arrived at the classroom, fortunately just before class started, he held open the door for me and I slipped past him silently. I felt multiple pairs of eyes on me as I entered the room. My face heated up and I concentrated on my boots in shame.

I scanned the crowd desperately for my weapon partners. After a few moments of searching, I found them sitting with an empty space between them. Both of their eyes were trained on me as I walked up the aisle with Soul trailing behind me. Maka sat beside Mieko with a cross look on her face as she glared fiercely at her weapon partner.

"You wouldn't wake up when I knocked on your door this morning. I had to walk to school by myself!" Maka complained as Soul slipped past Mieko and into the seat on the opposite side of his meister.

"Where were you all night? I was worried you got yourself killed or something," Ryoko snapped.

"I slept over Soul and Maka's place. No big deal, I'm not dead," I muttered.

"I thought you'd never get to class," commented a new voice. It sounded faintly familiar to me, with its proper tone and sharp edge to every word. I glanced up and found myself looking up into the golden eyes of the boy I had met the night before.

"Oh, um...hey Kid," I greeted with a slight smile, "These are my weapons–"

"Mieko and Ryoko, I know. Maka introduced us. That's why I was expecting your arrival. They're quite symmetrical, I must say. Identical twins," he remarked with a satisfied smile, "I'd love to see their weapon forms for myself sometime."

"You will in basic training tomorrow. We're having another session," Mieko piped up.

A loud crash sounded from the front of the classroom and everyone turned to look. Professor Stein had, yet again, rolled into the room on his office chair and fell over. From the floor, he pointed up at the ceiling and instructed, "Quiet now, students. Class is now in session."


	6. Chapter 6

(Kid's POV)

I stood in front of the full-length mirror in the living room, excessively adjusting the silver skull at the base of my throat. The mirror was positioned low enough on the wall so I could see from my neck down so I could make sure not a centimeter of my outfit was wrinkled or crooked.

Footsteps caught my attention from down the hallway and I glanced over my shoulder to check whose they were. Seconds later, Liz came through the archway leading into the room and looked over at me with exasperation clear in her expression. "Are you honestly still fussing about that? Just leave it, it looks fine," she sighed.

"You don't understand, Liz," I replied, "Something is off about today. No matter how hard I try, nothing is perfect. First I couldn't find my jacket, then a piece of my hair wouldn't stay down, and now this. My hair finally cooperated, thankfully."

Liz raised her eyebrows and shot a doubtful look towards the top of my head. Something was definitely off. I crouched down to view my hair in the mirror and saw two strands now sticking out. _NO, NO, NO! THIS CAN'T BE!_

"Where's my fuckin' coffee?!" shouted Patty, storming down the stairs. I whirled around at her voice and spotted her on the staircase disheveled and unkempt. Her red crop top was half pulled on and her hair was frizzy and uncombed. My eye rapidly twitched and I turned away from her, trying to ignore the fact that everything about her appearance was out of place. I slipped away into the bathroom to check if the toilet paper was folded at the end, leaving my elder weapon to deal with her twin's morning disaster.

"I'll get you some at Deathbucks on the way to the Academy," Liz promised, "Come on, let me fix your hair, Patty. You look like a mess, Kid's gonna have a panic attack if you stay like this."

I heard shuffling and sleepy grumbling from the other room, which I assumed was Liz fixing Patty's appearance up for the day. If it was up to that happy-go-lucky idiot, she would probably walk around Death City in her giraffe pajamas trying to balance six empty cups of coffee on her head.

I exited the bathroom and continued upstairs to the hallway, where a giant picture frame was hanging in the center of the wall. I stood in front of it, squinting and rubbing my chin as I tried to decide whether or not it was hanging straight. After nudging the frame over a teensy bit, I descended the stairs and joined my weapons in the living room. Patty was pulling on her shoes and Liz was fixing her white hat in the mirror.

I had almost forgotten about basic training. Today was the day that I would see Crystalin's partners' weapon forms for the first time. Crystalin herself was quite stunning to look at; it wasn't just her impeccable symmetry, something else about her that I couldn't name captured my attention. Somehow, my eyes will be drawn to her in a packed hallway or a crowded plaza.

On the way to the clearing, we stopped so Patty could get her coffee at Deathbucks. I walked between the twins and they carried on their conversation around me. I had my hands shoved deep in the pockets of my dress pants and found myself scrutinizing every detail about the buildings around us. They were so asymmetrical, yet I knew I couldn't do anything but ignore it. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm myself.

 _You won't have a panic attack. Just ignore it, Kid. Think of symmetrical things...the house. That painting in the hallway. The way the couch and television sit perfectly in the center of the living room. Wait...did I fix the lamp in the living room? Patty moved it last night, did I move it back? Oh no..._

I halted in my tracks, my eye twitching violently as I stared with wide eyes at the ground. We had reached the clearing and Liz and Patty had abandoned me to converse with the rest of the team. I held my head, taking deep breaths in and out like Liz always told me to do when I was about to start freaking out.

 _I couldn't have left it out of place. I must have fixed it!_ _No, no, no, no I'm a failure._ _I have to go back and che–_

"Kid? Are you okay?"

I was roused from my panicked thoughts and brought back to reality by a vaguely familiar voice. I glanced up from the ground and my gaze met with two entrancing light gray eyes. Crystalin. She smiled gently and rested a hand on my shoulder, tilting her head to the side slightly in a silent question.

"I'm fine, I just..." I trailed off. _She wouldn't understand. She doesn't know anything about symmetry, she'll just think I'm crazy. She doesn't care about what's bothering me, she's just trying to be courteous._

"You don't look fine. You look like you're about to faint," she frowned, "C'mon, sit down for a little bit. You can't honestly perform soul resonance in your state."

I shook my head and pulled away from her gentle touch. "No, I can. I've done it before. Trust me," I sighed, "I just need to calm down a bit, I'm fairly stressed."

Professor Stein stepped out into the clearing where we were gathered and clapped his hands twice. He adjusted the bolt in his head and threw his cigarette to the ground, crushing it under his shoe. "Alright, kids. Today we're going to practice something a bit different. We're going to start practicing chain resonance. You've learned about this in class, so it should be relatively simple," he announced, "There are four meisters here, I would like to pair you guys in twos to start off." He squinted at Crystalin for a moment, then at me. He pursed his lips and furrowed his brows before he said, "Maka with Black Star, Kid with Crystalin."

I glanced over at the girl beside me. We didn't know anything about each other, yet now we were basically going to be inside of each other's minds. A part of me was apprehensive about linking with her; her soul was so odd and I didn't know what was wrong with it. I focused on her and peered at her soul again. It was red, though not the color of a corrupt kishin egg soul – it was darker, much closer to crimson, and it was encased by black.

Liz and Patty morphed into twin pistols and I caught them in my hands expertly, spinning them around on my pinkies. I watched interestedly as Mieko and Ryoko transformed. Their bodies were engulfed in a blood-colored light and they shifted into two club maces that Crystalin threw expertly in the air and caught perfectly. She flashed me a smile when she caught me watching her, and I averted my eyes immediately.

 _Why did their aura look corrupted?_

"Alright, I would like you to resonate with your partners. Meisters, after you've achieved resonation, close your eyes and focus on the other meister's soul. Imagine yourself reaching out to it," Professor Stein instructed.

Neither Crystalin nor I closed our eyes when we were told. I stared at her silently, memorizing every detail about her appearance. Her long, black hair fell silkily over her shoulders and her stormy eyes pierced my own with a glint of determination in them. She gripped her weapons so tightly that her hands began to redden. Her pale skin, black hair, and gray eyes gave her an almost monochromatic appearance that mesmerized me. Her unwavering gaze didn't wander from my own very much. She was fixated on my eyes with a look of awe in her own that made me wonder if she envied me for the color in my irises that she seemingly lacked.

"Kid, Crystalin!" barked Professor Stein, "Are you going to stand there gawking at each other all day or are you going to resonate?"

"S-sorry, sir!" Crystalin stammered, shaking her head sharply and smiling nervously.

I resonated with Patty and Liz, then closed my eyes and tried to sense Crystalin's soul. I was once again stumped when I visualized it; her soul was an orb that glowed red and was encased by blackness. I reached out to it to touch it, but something in my mind told me to stay away.

 _Stop!_ _Don't_ _touch it!_ _You'll_ _get sucked in!_

I blinked in confusion and looked around me. There was no one around me in the dark space; there was no one but the soul in front of me and my own mind. _Is my own soul trying to speak to me?_ I rolled my eyes and shook my head at my own ridiculous thought. _That's impossible._

I reached out, battling the screaming voice inside my head, and took Crystalin's soul into my own hands. The experience was so surreal, and as I closed my eyes, I could almost feel pain radiating from Crystalin's soul. I opened my eyes and found myself inside one, giant soul with her.

I met her eyes for a moment, but stepped back with a strangled gasp. Her normally monochromatic image was shattered by two wild, crimson eyes that replaced her naturally gray ones. She flashed me a devilish grin that revealed a mouthful of fangs and a mindset of insanity as she twirled around the mace held in her left hand like a baton. Blood stained her white fangs and crazed bloodlust glinted in her red eyes.

"Kid, what's wrong? Why are you frozen?" Liz asked from her pistol form.

"C-Crystalin?" I stammered. I blinked once and the image of the monster driven by insanity that stood before me was gone. The attractive girl stood with her eyes closed and head tilted to the sky. At the sound of her name, she opened her eyes and they widened when she observed our combined soul surrounding us.

"We did it!" she exclaimed, beaming excitedly, "Ryo, Mi, we synced with them!"

 _She looks so happy and...normal. What did I just see?_

"Why are their souls blue and ours not?" Crystalin asked, nodding over to Maka and Black Star, who were snapping at each other and still struggling to link.

I studied the glowing bubble surrounding us carefully. It was a mixture of our souls – purple from mine and deep crimson from hers. The darkness that I observed enveloping her soul took over her half almost entirely and was starting to creep slowly towards mine.

"It's a combination of our souls," I murmured, "I'm a shinigami, therefore mine is purple. Your soul is...I'm not so sure."

* * *

(Crystalin's POV)

I sighed and flopped down onto my bed, burying my face in the soft covers. After performing the resonance link with Kid, I just wasn't the same. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that started when I asked him why our souls weren't like Black Star and Maka's. When he told me that he had no clue about mine, my heart started pounding in my chest.

 _Am I not normal?_ Just as I thought everything was getting better when I left home, life started leading me down dark paths that I didn't want to follow. _What did I ever do to deserve this? I never hurt anyone but myself._

The door to my room creaked open and I felt my mattress sink down beside me. I picked up my head and found Mieko sitting on my bed, his blue eyes twinkling with concern. He rested a gentle hand on my back and sighed, his gaze flickering out the open window. For a few minutes we sat in silence, and I let his familiar presence bring peace to me.

"You've been in here ever since we got back from training. We're worried about you," he murmured, "You didn't even come out for dinner. Are you alright?'

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking," I mumbled. I leaned my chin on my forearms and gazed out at the pitch black night sky. The moon slept peacefully and the stars shimmered on the midnight backdrop of the sky.

"Stop that, it's not healthy," he teased lightly with a joking smile. I chuckled, but the amusement evidently didn't reach my eyes. He dropped his smile and sighed, "In all seriousness, you're not safe inside your own mind, Crys. Don't lock yourself in here all night when you don't feel stable. Come out and sit with Ryo and I. Give yourself a break from your mind."

I sat up on my bed and nodded slowly. I reluctantly agreed to come with him and followed him out into the living room. Ryoko had his eyes glued to the television screen as his fingers nimbly navigated the gaming controller in his hands. I sat down beside him and sunk back into the sofa, studying his side profile. The screen of the television reflected in his blue eyes and his red hair was sticking up in all different directions.

He glanced at me for a moment and a grin stretched across his lips. "So, you finally decided to come out of your den and join us, huh, hermit?"

I smiled softly at his teasing comment and shook my head. Mieko was right, I really did need to clear my head and get my mind off of everything. My thoughts were never a safe place for me, and moving to Death City didn't change that.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Some things in this chapter could be potentially triggering or graphic (suicidal thoughts, self-mutilation), just a fair warning.**

* * *

(One Month Later)

I stepped into my apartment with grocery bags in my arms and kicked the front door shut behind me. I dropped everything on the counter in the kitchen and snatched an iced tea from the fridge, popping it open and bringing it to my lips. It was Mieko and Ryoko's eighteenth birthday, so Ryoko decided he wanted to throw a party. I was, of course, put in charge of fetching supplies from the store and ordering the food so I wouldn't "cockblock him", to put it in his words. I started thumbing through the disarray of menus on the counter to find one for a pizzeria when I heard someone murmuring to themselves behind me.

"You don't have to go on a redecoration spree. This is someone else's property, Kid. Just don't go into the bathroom. Don't go into the bathroom."

I turned around and spotted Kid sitting at the bistro set in the corner of the kitchen with his head in his hands. He was mumbling to himself about something and he looked pretty stressed out. I furrowed my brows and pulled out the seat across from him, leaning my own elbows on the tabletop and setting down the menu in my hand.

"You look a little stressed. Are you alright, Kid?" I asked tentatively.

His golden eyes snapped up to meet mine immediately at the sound of my voice, widening with alarm as if he was a deer caught in headlights. "Um, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong. I'm just a little tired," he lied with a tight-lipped smile.

"That's bullshit," I asserted, "Is something bothering you? You can tell me if there is."

He bit his lip and studied the frosted glass tabletop, as if contemplating whether or not he should tell me what was on his mind. He sighed and finally looked up to meet my gaze. "Your bathroom is an asymmetrical disaster. Especially that sink! There's a cup holding toothbrushes on one side and not on the other. I– uh, sorry," he apologized, "I don't like telling people this, but I have a pretty bad case of OCD. Most people figure it out on their own. Your bathroom set me off a bit."

"It's fine. Why wouldn't you tell people? It's nothing to be ashamed of. You can't change who you are," I said with a kind smile.

"People always judge me and label me as a weirdo when I do. They treat me differently; they treat me like I'm fragile, and that's the last thing I want," he answered.

My eyes softened and I shook my head gently. "I know what you mean. People are judgmental pricks," I agreed knowingly, "I had...issues when I was younger and the only people who know are Ryoko and Mieko. They still treat me differently sometimes and it pisses me off, but part of me knows it's only because they care."

After my anecdote to console him, a comfortable silence settled between us. He toyed with the silver skull ring on his left hand while I studied the silhouette of my own legs underneath the frosted glass tabletop. I took a sip from my iced tea can and glanced up at him, only to find him watching me intently. I cocked my head to the side curiously, wondering what was wrong.

"What is it?" I questioned.

"Nothing, I was just admiring your symmetry," he replied with a smile that made my heart skip a beat.

"W-what?" I stuttered.

"You're very symmetrical. Your facial features are even symmetrical...that's rare on a person," he clarified.

"Thank you," I murmured softly with a shy smile.

"You're welcome. Now, shouldn't you be ordering a pizza? I'm sure everyone's starving," he said teasingly. I rolled my eyes and picked up the phone, reluctantly ending our conversation. He seemed to have calmed down, at least. He shot me one last smile as he stood up and disappeared through the doorway to the living room to join the rest of the party.

* * *

After I finished ordering the pizza, I poked my head into the living room to see how Mieko and Ryoko's party was progressing. Ryoko was lounging on the couch with a can of Coke in his hand beside Tsubaki. A flirty smirk was on his lips and his arm was slung around the back of the couch behind her. I couldn't help but want to slap him across the face for being so sleazy, but I held myself back since it was his birthday.

Mieko stood with Maka by the window, conversing over a thick, hardcover book that sat on the windowsill. Patty sat on the floor cross-legged in front of the TV, gleefully playing one of Ryoko's video games. Liz was sitting with Black Star and Soul, though she didn't look too entertained by Black Star's gloating monologue. Soul glanced away from his narcissistic friend for a moment and his eyes met with mine. He excused himself from his circle and stood up, crossing the room to meet me.

"Hey," he greeted with a curt nod and a crooked smile.

"Hey. What's up?" I asked, tipping my head back and taking a sip from my iced tea. It seemed odd to me that he was approaching me to talk. We hadn't really spoken much in the past month aside from the occasional light conversation here and there when walking to class late.

"I just wanted to talk about something that's been on my mind for a while now..." he said, "I know things are awkward between us, and they are for good reason, but can we put what happened past us? It was a stupid mistake. We were both drunk and–"

"It was no mistake, Soul. You wanted me and I wanted you, that's what happens when two people are attracted to each other. We wanted to have some fun, so we did. I see no harm in that," I expressed, "It's not like we're in a relationship or anything, our bonds with our partners are just fine."

Soul shrugged and nodded in agreement, "You're right. It was just casual sex." After a few moments, a smirk quirked up the corners of his lips and a fang poked out from his mouth devilishly. He leaned in and huskily whispered, "Where's the harm in having some fun again then, right?"

I smirked and glanced over Soul's shoulder to check on everyone else. No one seemed to be watching the two of us, they were all preoccupied by other things. I purred in his ear, "Meet me in my room in five. Don't let anyone know." I trailed my finger along his jawline seductively and winked as I spun on my heel and headed down the hallway.

Little did I know, someone was keeping an eye on the two of us. From his seat on the armchair, Kid's eyes were glued to Soul as he disappeared from the party just five minutes after I had.

The poor red Solo cup in his hand was crushed into oblivion.

* * *

 _I was alone._

 _I sat on the bank of a lake, watching as the calm surface of the water rippled gently in the cool evening breeze. The full moon's reflection rippled in the lake as the only source of light to be found in the suffocating darkness. I flicked a pebble into the water and it made a small 'plunk' as the water expanded into circular ripples surrounding where it had landed._

 _I stood up and gazed down into the water, studying my own reflection. My black hair was tied up into a neat ponytail with a few stray hairs framing my face. My skin tone was pale, appearing almost translucent under the white light of the moon. Though I didn't feel myself doing so, a smile graced the lips of my reflection and happiness twinkled in my monochromatic eyes._

 _Two identical reflections joined my own in the mirror of the water. Auburn hair, blue eyes, and light skin. The one to my left had an unmistakable mischievous grin while the one to my right had a calm smile and an air of maturity about him. I glanced up from the lake, expecting to see my weapon partners on either side of me, but my eyes were greeted by nothing but empty air._

" _It's all a lie," a disembodied voice hissed in my ear._

 _When I looked down, I was holding a silver switchblade to my delicate wrist. It trembled in my hand over the raised skin of my fading scars. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to pull my own hand back, but I was resisting myself. When I closed my eyes, I felt the familiar sting of metal slicing across my skin and that tingling feeling of pain shoot up my forearm._

 _I was no longer in control of my body. My eyes were forced open so I could see the damage done by my own hands. The image of myself and my weapons was shattered by the droplets of blood that stained the clear water a deadly crimson. The girl in the reflection was no longer myself. Her eyes were a dangerous vermillion with a glint of burning hatred and bloodlust, and her teeth were sharpened fangs. She no longer looked like an innocent girl; she looked like a corrupted monster, a victim of insanity._

 _She locked eyes with me as she snaked her clawed fingers around my weapon partners' throats and squeezed, piercing their skin with her sharp claws. My breath hitched in my throat and a helpless whimper escaped from my lips. She flashed me a sinister grin, pleasure dancing in her crimson eyes as she took in the expression of pure horror plastered on my face._

 _She let go of Ryoko and Mieko, who disappeared into nothingness, and instead took her own slender arm into her grip. She dragged her talons across her own skin, giggling with madness and pleasure as she dug them deeper and drew blood. A sharp pain lanced through my forearm and sent shivers down my spine, yet I couldn't break eye contact with the maniacal girl – it's impossible to break eye contact with your own reflection._

* * *

"Crys! CRYS! Crystalin, wake up!"

My eyes shot open and I was immediately greeted in the waking world by a shooting pain through my left arm. I winced in agony and yanked my arm from someone's tight grip to study my injuries. Fingernail marks were embedded into my skin and uneven scratches marred my already scarred wrist. Ryoko was kneeling over me, pinning down my right arm to the bed. His blue eyes were bloodshot and he looked exhausted. His gaze locked with mine, and when he realized I was awake, he heaved a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the mattress beside me.

"What happened?" I murmured, sitting up in bed and cradling my left arm close to my body.

"I don't fucking know, you're going bat-shit insane or something. I heard banging from your room, so I came to check on you. It's a good thing I did because you were in here fighting with yourself and clawing at your own wrists in your sleep," he responded, "Everyone left about two hours ago. You didn't come out of your room, so I assumed you weren't feeling well."

 _Shit, am I still naked?!_ My eyes widened when I remembered why I hadn't come out of my room again and I glanced down at my body in a panic. Thankfully, I was fully dressed. _I guess Soul saw me fall asleep while we were talking and put some clothes on me...that was sweet of him._ I glanced over at my weapon partner, who was gnawing on his bottom lip and keeping a watchful eye on me.

"I haven't slept yet. You're joining me in the living room so you don't go insane in your sleep again. Next time you might find hidden razors or some shit, Death forbid," he muttered.

"What? No, I just wanna sleep, I–"

Despite my protests, Ryoko stood up and threw me over his shoulder. I tried to squirm from his grasp, but he was too strong. When we got into the living room, he tossed me onto the sofa and flopped down next to me. He snatched up his video game controller from the coffee table and powered up a second one that was beside it. He chucked it at me and I clumsily caught it, the batteries falling out into my lap.

"Play something with me. It'll get your mind off of whatever that nightmare was that you had," he murmured, "Right trigger is to shoo– Just put the batteries in the back of the controller. No, the other way. Oh my f– gimme that damn thing!"


	8. Chapter 8

"Guys, Maka and Soul asked us if we wanted to come with them on their next assignment."

I trotted up the aisle of classroom desks and sat down in the seat beside Mieko. He glanced up from his book momentarily before he continued reading. Ryoko tilted his head in the direction of my voice and opened one eye slightly, keeping his head down on the desk.

"We completed an assignment on our own, why do we have to team up with people now? Can't we just go on another solo assignment?" Ryoko complained.

"We could go on our own assignment, but why shouldn't we try teaming up with another meister and weapon? It's a new experience and for all we know it could be better. And besides, if we get into any trouble, they'll be there to help us out," I pointed out.

"Why Maka and Soul? Why can't it be Black Star and Tsubaki?" he challenged.

I shot him an exasperated look and rolled my eyes. "Black Star wouldn't let us do anything, you know that. He's always gotta be the center of attention. And though he may be very strong, he's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer," I responded.

"He's more like the dullest goddamn spoon in the cupboard, if you ask me," muttered Mieko. I couldn't help but crack an amused smirk at his remark.

Ryoko shrugged and closed his eyes once again, turning his head away from me. I groaned and threw my head back to stare up at the high ceiling dotted with circular fluorescent lights. Mieko gently closed his book and sat back in his seat, removing his reading glasses and setting them down on the wooden desktop.

"I'm fine with it. It's ultimately your decision, Crys," he remarked, "After all, you're the meister who does all the fighting. We're simply the weapons in training."

* * *

I gripped the handles of my maces tightly, the leather-coated metal digging into my palms and leaving uncomfortable indentations in my skin. I was very wary of my surroundings – something about the town didn't seem right to me. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach that I just couldn't shake ever since we had arrived in the eerie Connecticut ghost town, but I kept my mouth shut. I didn't want to make my weapons unnecessarily nervous, even though they could probably sense my soul's fearful wavelength.

"Are you okay? You seem really tense," Maka asked, her blonde brows crinkling in concern.

"I'm fine. We're still fairly new to this whole assignment thing, so I guess I'm a little jittery," I laughed nervously.

Maka flashed me a knowing smile. "Everything's gonna be fine. Just remember that Soul and I are right here with you guys if anything bad happens," she reassured me.

I nodded and smiled gratefully back at her, although her comforting words did nothing to soothe my nerves. I glanced around the deadly silent neighborhood, my eyes skimming across the tops of the old, rundown buildings for any signs of movement. We were told that the kishin egg should be dwelling in an abandoned factory, but other than that, we were given no further instruction. I wasn't too keen on wandering around cluelessly in an unknown town clear across the country, but we had no other choice.

My gaze flitted across a large brick building that had vines crawling up the front and busted out windows. The black letters that once displayed the name of the company were torn off with only an S, N, and Y remaining. The large smokestacks on the roof of the building were what really caught my attention. I stopped in my tracks and gently nudged Maka's arm with the hilt of my mace. She halted and turned to face me, a questioning look in her green eyes.

"That's a factory if I've ever seen one," I remarked, nodding up at the tall, abandoned building.

"No, no, no. I'm not fucking going in that building. That's just asking for something to attack us!" Ryoko exclaimed from his weapon form.

"That's exactly what we're doing, dumbass. We didn't travel all the way here to have a nice little chat," I responded sardonically, rolling my eyes.

"Shut up and let Maka concentrate. She might be able to see the kishin egg's soul if it's in there, unlike the rest of us talentless idiots," Mieko snapped.

"Watch who you're calling a talentless idiot," I warned.

Maka took a few steps closer to the building and squinted in concentration. Suspenseful silence overtook the entire group as we waited for our only meister with soul perception to see whether or not we had the right factory.

"It's definitely in there," she murmured after a few quiet moments, "I just can't pinpoint where. The wavelength is really weak, which means it's pretty distant. This place must be gigantic."

"Then let's get inside and start searching," I said impatiently. In one respect, I didn't want to start the assignment, but in another, I just wanted to get it over with. I knew if we didn't start searching while I had the tiniest shred of feigned courage, I would never be able to complete the assignment.

Maka pulled open one of the large metal doors, bits of concrete crumbling down upon our heads as she did so. The building was completely dark and extremely expansive on the inside. Machines lined the room with barely enough walking space, let alone space to fight without knocking into something. I swallowed nervously and felt sweat beading up on my brow. I was never particularly comfortable in confined spaces.

"Damn it, I completely lost the wavelength," Maka cursed.

"What?! What are we supposed to do now?" Ryoko panicked.

"Calm down, Ryo. I thought you were a brave macho-man," Mieko teased.

Soul snickered from his scythe form when Ryoko fell silent. Maka sighed and glanced around the large room, her eyes scanning each piece of antique factory equipment carefully. I joined her survey of our surroundings, searching specifically for any sign of a staircase that led to the upper levels of the building.

"We have to split up. There's no other way that we're going to be able to search this entire place from top to bottom before dark," Maka said.

"Wait, what? We're splitting up? But what if the kishin egg attacks one of us and–" I started.

"Just scream as loud as you possibly can. Clank one of your weapons against something metal if you need to, everything in this place is metallic," she interrupted.

"What? I never signed up to get slammed int–" Ryoko began to protest.

"Wouldn't you be willing to do anything that could possibly save your meister's life? 'Cause I know I would," Soul cut in.

"Of course I would, but–"

"Then maybe you should show that to her sometimes, because she sure as hell doesn't know it," Soul spat.

I gritted my teeth together, wanting to somehow force Soul out of his weapon form so I could slap him across the face. I didn't want Ryoko thinking that I was weak and scared he didn't care about me because of all our constant snapping back and forth.

"Crystal, you take the second floor and continue up if there's nothing. I'll check around the rest of this floor and out in the back. There's probably more rooms that are hidden," Maka instructed, "Remember, shout if you're in trouble."

* * *

The old floorboards creaked under my weight, despite the fact that I tried to keep my footsteps light. My knuckles brushed against the chipping cement walls so I could keep my balance. When I emerged from the staircase, my eyes were met with yet another huge, dark room lined with machines. The machines on the second floor were much taller than those on the first floor.

"It could be anywhere," Ryoko sighed.

"Not exactly. If it follows its kishin egg nature, which it will, it'll be drawn to our human souls. We just have to wait it out," Mieko disagreed.

My eyes swept around the room, studying the dangerously exposed machinery with caution. I knew for a fact I sure as hell didn't want to get caught in any of those death traps.

"Well, I'm not just gonna stand here like a sitting duck and wait for something to attack us," I muttered.

I pushed down the nervous flutters in the pit of my stomach and traversed forwards, my heavy combat boots stomping down on the floorboards a bit louder than I would have preferred. A door at the end of the aisle I was walking down caught my attention. I swatted away a cobweb with the mace that I knew was Ryoko and started walking towards the door at a steady pace.

The door looked like it was made of steel, like most of the machines in the room. I swallowed nervously and set down Mieko's weapon form beside the door. I bit my lip and gripped the handle with a sweaty palm. I struggled to open it, using all of my weight to pull it. I set down Ryoko beside Mieko and wrapped both of my hands around the handle.

"Looking for something?"

Chills crept up my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I whipped around, only to find myself met with two chilling red eyes and a menacing grin. I gasped and grabbed Mieko and Ryoko's weapon forms, clutching their handles tightly as I faced the shockingly human monster.

Its eyes weren't two black holes like the average kishin, they had red irises with black pupils and a white eyeball – they were humanoid. The creature's skin was a sickly grayish color, but it didn't look scaly or inhuman in any way. It had shaggy hair that was blacker than the nighttime sky and its grin bared jagged, yellowing fangs.

"Your soul is developing quite well," the creature chuckled. The noise was sinister and rumbling, and sent a bolt of fear through my body.

"Y-you're supposed to be wanting to eat my soul," I stammered. I lifted my arms with my twin maces in them and got into fighting stance, preparing myself for an attack at any moment.

"Your mother says you have grown into quite the young lady. You do seem powerful, although you were only trained by your pathetic father and that wretched Academy," the creature said.

I stiffened at the mention of my mother. This creature was trying to get into my mind, to trick me into breaking down and not fighting it. However, I wouldn't give in to what it wanted. "Nice try, kishin. My mother is dead. You know nothing about her or me," I spat.

The monster let out another bone-chilling chuckle and shook its head slowly, "You poor, ignorant little child. I know more about you than even you do. Your mother would be disappointed at your lack of knowledge, I assure you."

I felt anger beginning to bubble up inside of me. I clenched my hands around my dual club maces so tightly that my arms began to tremble."YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I screeched. I charged towards the monster, swinging my maces to whack it over the head, but before I could reach it, my body froze without my consent. I couldn't move. I was paralyzed.

 _Scream. Just scream._


	9. Chapter 9

(Third Person POV)

Crystalin stopped moving completely and her arms went limp, though her grip on her maces remained intact. Her gray eyes were void of all consciousness and entirely glazed over as she stared at the monster that stood not even three feet away from her.

"Crys, what are you doing?! Attack that thing before it attacks you!" Ryoko screeched from his weapon form.

The dazed meister didn't respond to her weapon's words. She seemed to be entranced, lost in the haunting eyes of the evil creature that stood before her. He chuckled darkly and advanced towards her, sliding a slender, grayish finger under her chin and tilting her head up to meet his gaze.

"You're quite the beauty, might I say. Vulnerable without your true form, as expected, but a pretty little thing nonetheless," the creature snickered.

"CRYS, SNAP OUT OF IT!" Mieko shouted.

"CRYSTALIN!" Ryoko added only a few seconds later.

The creature backed away from the young meister, drawing up to his full height and crossing his arms over his broad chest. He narrowed his crimson eyes at her, studying not just her appearance, but her soul as well. A murderous attack plan was clear in his sinister thoughts, but he had promised his master that he would bring her back alive.

He drew his tongue over his lips as he studied her soul more closely. All he wanted was to take that soul as his own – to be alive again. Living soullessly in the world was a torture set out to only those who did the most evil deeds in their lifetime. Unfortunately for him, he was doomed to live out that miserable fate.

In those few moments he spent staring into her soul, he decided he didn't care what his master had to say. He was going to kill this girl.

Black claws extended from his sickly pale fingertips, elongating and sharpening until they could be used as deadly weapons. He grinned deviously and snapped his head up to stare at the meister before him. She was still paralyzed, her mind still gone. He darted towards her and shot out a clawed hand to rip out her heart and take her soul while he still had the golden opportunity.

The mace in her left hand was engulfed in a garnet light and the monster found his claws ripping into flesh that was not that of his intended victim.

Ryoko's scream ripped through the air in agony. He clutched his stomach where the creature's claws had torn through his skin quite deeply. The monster snarled angrily and tossed him aside like a ragdoll. His body flopped to the ground, but not before his head was slammed into a conveyor belt on the factory machinery, and he was rendered unconscious.

Mieko transformed from his weapon form and stood in front of Crystalin protectively. His blue eyes nervously darted between his unconscious brother that lie on the floor only a few feet away and the monster standing right in front of him.

"L-Look...you're clearly not a kishin egg, and I don't know what you want, but–" he started.

"I want your precious meister's soul. And I will rip you to shreds if you don't get out of my way and let me have what I want," the creature snarled.

Mieko clenched his teeth and stood up straight while leaning a bit towards his opponent, attempting to mimic Crystalin's fighting stance before she attacks. His entire body was quivering with nerves. He was never much of a fighter, and between him and his brother, he was the physically weaker of the two. He would never be able to protect Crystalin on his own, but he could try.

"If you want her, you'll have to get through me first," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. By the annoyed look plastered on his features, Mieko could tell that the monster before him fortunately couldn't sense his evident fear.

"You're a pest, you know that?" muttered the creature, "You know what happens to pests like you? They DIE."

The creature crouched low to the ground in a position that told Mieko he was getting ready to pounce. Just as he leapt forwards, a black and red crescent hooked around his neck and pulled him back forcefully. With chilling effortlessness, the scythe blade sliced cleanly through the monster's throat, beheading him and ending his life without even so much as a gurgle of resistance.

The monster's body whipped up into the air in black ribbons, however no floating orb was left behind to reward the team for their efforts. Maka furrowed her blonde eyebrows and placed her hands on her hips, staring hard at the ground where the monster had just disappeared from. She was immensely confused as to why there wasn't a soul left behind from that kishin egg.

The black and red scythe in her hands was encased in a glowing light as Soul transformed. He hurried over to and crouched down beside Crystalin, who had sunk to the floor with her back pressed against the wall.

"Crystal, are you okay?" he asked softly. He brushed his thumb along her cheek and tilted her head up so she was looking him in the eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened?" she replied quietly, scratching her head and bringing herself to her feet.

"Is she conscious yet?" Mieko asked from behind Soul.

"Yeah, she is," Soul answered, glancing over his shoulder. He spotted his own meister standing completely still, staring blankly at the wooden floorboards, and his brow creased in concern. Turning back to Crystalin, he said, "Ryoko got hurt badly from what it seems. Go check on him, he's with Mieko."

At that news, Crystalin's eyes immediately filled with worry. She bolted over to her weapon partners and her breath hitched in her throat when she saw Ryoko's condition. She crumpled to the floor and leaned over him, pressing her ear to his chest to see if she could hear a heartbeat. Thankfully, she could, though it was faint.

"He's bleeding really badly. We have to stop the blood," she panicked, glancing around frantically in search for some kind of cloth to press to his wound, "What happened? How'd he get like this? I don't remember anything."

"I think that monster took over your mind and was planning on killing you, but Ryoko took the blow instead. He saved your life, Crys," Mieko responded softly.

She gnawed on her bottom lip and tears collected in her stormy eyes as she stared down at her unconscious weapon partner. She choked on a sob and leaned down to Ryoko, caging his large upper body with her slender arms as she buried her face in his chest. She clenched her teeth to somewhat suppress the sobs that racked her body.

"I can't believe I let this happen to you. I'm such a fucking idiot, I should've been able to do something," she mumbled into his shirt, "Please, Ryo. Please wake up."

* * *

Maka scurried down the cobblestone road, trying to shield her head from the rain with her skinny arms. The eerie gray stitched house that she was searching for soon came into her view. She picked up her pace to a jog, looking forward to getting out of the pouring rain. Once she was under the house's overhang outside the front door, she halted and studied the door before her. It was late, but she would never be able to sleep if she didn't figure out the mystery that was stirring around in her thoughts. She raised her fist and tentatively knocked at the door.

The door was flung open too quickly for Maka's jittery nerves, causing her to flinch and take a step back with wide eyes. Marie Mjolinir stood in the doorway in a black nightgown, her golden-blonde hair frazzled and her left eye closed, where her eye patch would normally sit during the hours of the day.

"Maka? Are you alright? What brings you here so late?" she asked, concern laced into her words.

"Um, yes, I'm fine, Miss Marie. I just got back from an assignment with Crystalin, you know the new girl on my team, and something...weird happened," Maka replied hesitantly. She doubted the ditzy teacher she was talking to would know anything about the topic that was troubling her, but she had to give it a try.

"Come in, sweetie, I'll make some tea if you'd like," Marie said. She took a step back and gestured for Maka to join her inside the creepy home of her professor.

Marie led her into the living room and told her to have a seat while she made some tea. Maka politely declined the offer and said she'd rather just talk about what was bothering her. The pair sat down on opposite sides of the coffee table in between the two sofas.

"It was something about the opponent that we had to fight. He was...weird," Maka explained.

Marie furrowed her brows and cocked her head to the side. "How so?" she questioned, interlacing her fingers together and leaning her chin on her hands.

"He injured Ryoko pretty badly, then I came up to help fight him off. But when I killed him, he left behind no soul," Maka responded.

Marie pursed her lips and stood up suddenly. "I don't know anything about this kinda thing. I'll go get Stein, he's not asleep, I'm sure," she said. She disappeared down the hallway, leaving Maka alone in the living room. It was slightly less disturbing than she expected from her ultra-freak professor, but she figured that was probably due to Miss Marie's influence.

A little more than five minutes later, Marie reappeared in the doorway dragging Stein behind her. Despite her reassurance, he looked like he had just been woken up. He wore stitched gray clothes that, oddly enough, matched his entire house and he lacked his usual white lab coat and glasses. He narrowed his green eyes at Maka, running a hand through his gray hair as he took a seat on the sofa across from her and beside Marie.

"You fought a soulless kishin egg from what Marie's telling me?" he inquired, fighting back the yawn that he felt coming on. Despite his exhaustion, there was a tinge of slight worry in his absinthian eyes.

"Yeah. Crystalin was paralyzed or something. She wasn't fighting the... _thing_ , and Ryoko obviously protected her and got knocked out. Soul and I killed it, but it left behind no soul or anything. How is that even possible?" Maka asked.

Stein sat up straight in his seat and twisted the bolt in his head, cracking his neck as he did so. Maka inwardly shivered at his actions and averted her eyes, but tried her hardest not to show her discomfort.

"That most certainly was not a kishin egg, it was a demon. While kishins are demons, the word doesn't encompass the whole species. There are two other branches of evil that you kids learn nothing of because, normally, they stay off the radar of the Academy – husks and wraiths.

"The more common of the two is the husk. A husk is a human that has died and has been turned into a being of evil due to bad deeds committed in their lives. Their soul is destroyed for the rest of eternity, leaving them in eternal suffering for the rest of their existence. A wraith is one that is born demonic; they have a tainted soul that is very vulnerable to the madness wavelength. They are much more dangerous than husks or even kishins.

"Wraiths are extremely powerful creatures that can be even more fearsome than witches in some cases. They can control the minds of anything they please, trapping one in a paradoxical nightmare world that he or she can't escape from. Husks are much weaker and are easily killable, and therefore, often serve as the minions of wraiths. You kids most likely encountered a husk since you were able to kill it without much trouble.

"Most demons want nothing to do with the DWMA, since we are demon hunters by nature; though, we deal with a different type of demon that you kids know as a kishin. Husks have no chance at ever defeating an Academy student, which baffles me as to why one would pretend to be a kishin to lure our students to it," Stein explained.

"That explains the lack of a soul, but what about Crystalin? Was she paralyzed from just shock, or...?" Maka questioned.

Stein exchanged glances with Marie before settling his gaze back on the curious meister before him. "Husks are strong hosts of madness. Some people are just more vulnerable to the madness than others. You're lucky she didn't go on a rampage and start attacking you," he responded curtly, "Anyway, you should start getting home now. It's late and you have class tomorrow."

Maka stood up from her seat on the sofa and thanked her professor for the information. Marie gently took her by the upper arm and led her out of the house, bidding her goodnight and shutting the door softly behind her.

* * *

(Unknown POV)

"DID YOU NOT CAPTURE HER?!"

One of the two black-winged men before me swallowed nervously and averted his garnet eyes from my furious gaze. He twisted his pale fingers together, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed nervously.

"We, um...C-Christophe, uh–" he stammered.

"Spit it out or I will choke you with your own tongue," I snarled threateningly.

The second man silenced the first man with a warning look. He seemed to be a lot more calm and collected than the first. He held his head high and his gaze was unwavering as it met mine. "Christophe went rogue, Lady Nimah. He–" he started.

"He went rogue?! What do you mean he wentrogue?!" I screeched.

"He went into the fight with the intent to kill Crystalin," he answered calmly.

Rage bubbled up in my chest and I bit down on the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted blood. My long claws dug into my palms as I clenched my fists to keep myself from lashing out at the two useless minions before me. I closed my eyes and gripped the edge of my desk until my knuckles turned white.

 _If he killed her, I will castrate every single male in the vicinity._

An angry snarl ripped from my vocal cords as I flipped my desk, its contents flying into the men's faces. "I GAVE YOU SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS TO BRING HER BACK ALIVE, DID I NOT?!" I screamed. I took a deep breath and bared my fangs in a fake smile to mask my anger. "She isn't dead, is she?"

"N-no, Master, she's very much alive," replied the more timid of the two minions, "Christophe was killed, though."

"Killed by who? Those damned students at the Academy?" I growled.

"Yes. She was accompanied by another weapon and meister pair, who were clearly more experienced than her. They killed Christophe," the second man said.

"GOD FUCKING DAMN THAT BASTARD AND HIS STUDENTS!" I screamed, kicking an empty picture frame that was at my feet. It flew across the room and hit the wall, shattering into countless shards of glass.

I whipped my head up to meet the gazes of the two men who were now surrounded by clutter from my thrown desk. Fear was evident in both of their eyes at the raging fire ignited in mine and the crazed grin plastered on my lips.

"I will destroy that damned school, and if I can't trust any of you incompetent twits to assist me, I'll do it on my own," I snarled, "Now get out of my sight before I rip out your organs and feed them to the dogs."


End file.
